Light acclimation

I'm in the process of cleaning up and setting up a different tank and moving everything from my 12g nano-reef into it.  That process is going to take me about a month or so getting everything set up and cycled.  In the mean time, I need to plan for what's going to be necessary to acclimate all of my existing corals to the different lights.  My nano has PC lights and my 90 has dual 400 MH 20K lights and dual 120 VHO actinics...about as much of a change as I could make.  The lights are in a hood so I can't start with them higher and lower them over time...I need to filter the light somehow.  That being said, what am I going to need in order to properly acclimate my corals to the new lights?  I've heard of people using fiberglass screen material, but what do I use as a frame for it to attach to?  If anyone can tell me what they have done that worked well, I would appreciate it.
--AJ

 

If you raise you lighting 12 or 14 inches off the water line, put all your corals on the bottom of the tank and lower the lighting schedule to around 4 hours a day you should be fine without and filters. Then over time you can gradually increase the photo period and lower the lights

 

Thanks for posting this question, I was thinking about upgrading metal halides soon. I wanted to change my setup from four 110watt VHO actinics and two 65watt PC lights to all four VHOs with two 250watt halides. I was also wondering what I would want to aclimate to this.

From what I under stand I could get some kind of cover for the lights and run 4 hours a day, turning it up one hour every week and then every week after that I could take one layer of the cover off until they are used to it. Then I could start moving the corals higher in the tank. I am going to be mounting the lights into my cannopy that are 9 inches off the water surface and I won't be able to adjust the height. So is this the best method?

Also, has anyone boughten the Odyssea 250watt 15k halides? They are about the only MH that are in my price range(college student). Is this a bad idea or is it good because it's better than nothing? I can always wait for someone selling a 2 250watt halide setup. Otherwise, what is the cheapest/quality MH lights I should go with?

Sorry for hijacking your post

Adam

 

The lights are in the canopy...which puts them at about 12" off the water.  The way the canopy is made, it's really not possible to easily raise or lower them.  The lower light periods is a good idea....I'll do that.  The tank is 24" deep so that should help cut the intensity a little.
Troy suggested starting with older bulbs which I thought was a good idea.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!  Any others?
--AJ

 

Hijack away!  As long as everyone is getting the info that they need, that's the important thing!
--AJ

 

If you don't have any older bulbs i have 2 sets you can borrom or have one as long as when your done they go into the bulb recycling program

 

Aaron,

I have a post here and a couple on RC about the effects I experienced going from 48watts power compact (similar to what you have) to 216w T5's, equivalent to a single 400w MH.
I wasn't able to adjust the height of my lights and went with a shorter photoperiod instead.  I don't have the patience to increase lighting an hour a week, but that seems to be an accepted acclimation along with starting the corals lower in the tank.
I didn't notice any effects for about 10 days, and the corals started getting their coloration back about a week after they went pale (I don't consider it bleaching).
You could use egg crate on the tank with layers of screen over it - removing a layer each week to acclimate along with a shorter photoperiod.
800w of halides will certainly be a change for your corals!  The electric company will probably send you a "Thank-You" card as well
Light Acclimation Search on RC
-Eric

 

I've never heard of using old lights for acclimation.

Wouldn't the intensity be about the same with a potential shift in spectral output?

 

I'm no expert but as I understand it every bulb slowly looses par as it burns. So in thepry you still psuhing 400 watts but the par wouldn't be as strong in an old bulb.

 

Makes sense to me!

 

Posted By llebcire on 04/03/2009 08:58 PM

800w of halides will certainly be a change for your corals!  The electric company will probably send you a "Thank-You" card as well
Light Acclimation Search on RC
-Eric
That's some funny ****.
Also, I was doing some more thining about adding two 250watt MH to my four 110watt VHOs. Is that too much light for a 72 gallon? It would be 500 MH and 440 VHO. Seems like overkill. Would it be better to use 150 MHs or would 250s be fine?
Adam

 

if anything adam i would use one set of vho's and the halides rather than all 4 vho's

 

Wow, 800w in a 90?!?! The water company might send you a thank you card too! I hope you have a chiller for the summer.

 

I dont think 800 watts in a 90 is all that outragious, if you think about it most sps keepers who have 120's usually have 250's or 400's. My 120 has 1020 watts and only 30 more gallons of water

 

I had 500w halides and 260w pc over a 75g, same footprint but a few inches shorter than a 90g.

When in an apartment, I only had a 10g fuge and I did have heat issues, lost my first frogspawn this way.  Needed to shift the lighting schedule to earlier in the morning and run fans in the canopy and fuge - still got over 82 degrees on a regular basis.
When I moved into our house, I had a 30g fuge and a 100g sump, both sitting on unfinished concrete in the basement - took care of my heat issue.
Aaron, you've tossed around the idea of a basement sump for your 90, and I think it would be a great idea for some free natural cooling!
-Eric

 

Posted By adampottebaum on 04/03/2009 05:59 PM
Also, has anyone boughten the Odyssea 250watt 15k halides? They are about the only MH that are in my price range(college student). Is this a bad idea or is it good because it's better than nothing?
Do some research on the Odyssea - their MH fixtures have a history of catching on fire (ask Fawn).

Posted By adampottebaum on 04/04/2009 08:26 AM
Also, I was doing some more thining about adding two 250watt MH to my four 110watt VHOs. Is that too much light for a 72 gallon? It would be 500 MH and 440 VHO. Seems like overkill. Would it be better to use 150 MHs or would 250s be fine?
Adam
What are you trying to accomplish?  Have you researched T5's?  Same par as halides, less money, less frequent replacemet, less electricity and less heat for the same par.  216w T5 would give you more light than a pair of 150's, with the aforementioned benefits, and you could sell your 4x110's.  Don't have the shimmer lines, though.
Just a thought.
-Eric